Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-07-02
The Great A merican Desert

The coming generations will study their maps and geographies ID vain for the Great American desert, which the present generations was taught to be- heye in as implicitly ss in the Rocky mountains or Lake Superior. The Great American desert has been like a mirage, continually recediDg before the advance of the traveller and giving place 10 fertile valleys and hillsIdes.
 Oi late years we have had. or though We had, the Great American desert se- curely located m Arizona. We have heard wonderOus tales Ot the vast stretch es of sand where only horned tosds and Gils monsters could live, Gf the square miles ot cactus, Of arid, rHiDless plains, and bare and rugged mountRins, of rivers that never had any Water ID them, and of the dizzy heights 10 which the mer- cury attained, and We smiled a proud and satisfied smile and thought to our selves that the Great American desert was at last fixed where there was DO ca cape it and no gsinsaying it's existence.
 Alas for the vanity of human expec. tatiOns and belieil Our Inst landmark IS gone. AriZonB has gone 10 work and become not only a producer Of cereals and similar cropE, but Of fruit, and Of early fruit at that. Only yesterday grapes were exhibited here from Ar.zoDs which grew on Arizona vines and which were equal ID all respects to the early products of our own vineyards; and. heighthiOf presumption. an official of a railroad running from MaricOpa to- wards Phenix actually says that the Salt River valley is certain to be the great competitor of Los Angeles, being equal ly favored ss to climate, soil and an abundance of water for IIrigating pur- poses, and that the season fer Ell fruits Is from ten to thirty days earlier. More over, thIs bold man ssys that valley is twenty-four hours nearer to eastern markets, which IS matter of impor tance when the shipping of green fruits is to be considered.
 Just stop and think. The very ideg of comparing Arizona or any portion of tt with Los Angeles sounds slmOs! liEe irreverence; and gs for shipping green fruit from there Co the east, the imagIn- ative genius of Hsggard or Stevenson never devised flight Otfancy s) wild Es that would have been considered Ouly few years ago. Rut we must draw the line at climate. We may consent, re- luctantly, to conoede equality ID soil bud irrigation and fruits, but we nail Out flag 10 the mast on the proposition of climate. Is Arizona to leave us nothing? :? Are all the illusions of our childhood to be dispelled at once. and 80 rudelyl Is California to be eclipsed and Oyershad- owed by Arizona?
 But SO it goes. Thirty years ago or a little more. We ourselves were import ing four from Chili aud wheat from Or egon, because 1t was thought We could not raise wheat in California, Ten years ago the prevelant idea of the pro ducnous of Arizona was limited to the production of horned tosds, mescal and Apsches; and now her people are talk ing about climate and green fruits and are building railroads and lrrigating canals, and raIsinG early grapes and going ahead generally.
 We give 1t up. Tbe Great American desert hsa become only shadow of q name, and with the development ot the agricultural resources of Arizona its last chance for local habItaiion has vanished forever.-S. |. Chronicle.